Koda Health Secures New Investments in Seed+ Funding Round

The digital advance care planning company Koda Health has secured an undisclosed sum in a second seed funding round. The investment firm Ecliptic Capital led the round, with participation from Memorial Hermann Health System, AARP and the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund. Koda plans to use the funds to spur further expansion, including its patient […]

‘This Is Different’: Building a Sustainable Palliative Care Workforce

The state of the palliative care workforce is at an inflection point, as employers see both challenges and opportunities in their strategies to boost recruitment and retention. Palliative care providers have weathered many challenges in recent years, including evolving regulations and reimbursement structures, a global pandemic and widespread staffing shortages. Workforce shortages have long plagued […]

Betterleave to Expand to 12 States Following $2.4M Funding Round

The bereavement care tech company Betterleave has secured $2.4 million in a funding round led by Chingona Ventures. Austin-based Betterleave Bereavement launched as a venture capital-backed startup in March 2022. The company’s bereavement care platform is designed as a benefit that companies can offer their employees who have lost a loved one, a pregnancy or […]

Senators Propose Bills to Expand Hospice Training, Ensure Access to Transfusions

Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) recently re-introduced legislation designed to expand the palliative care workforce. The two lawmakers, along with others, also brought forth a second bill designed to ensure that hospice patients who need blood transfusions can receive them. The bipartisan-supported Provider Training in Palliative Care Act aims to increase the […]

Systematic Change Needed to Support Family Caregivers of Hospice Patients

Given the critical role of family caregivers in home-based care, hospices have a vested interest in expanding their access to support. Families caring for seriously ill loved ones face systemic barriers that could threaten patients’ ability to receive care at home, including at the end of life. If a family can’t withstand these burdens, the […]

Health Systems Adapt to Changing Environment by Expanding Hospice, Home-Based Care

Home-based care, including hospice, is an increasingly attractive space for health systems and hospitals — a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. Health systems are bringing care to the home by a number of routes. Some have launched their own completely new programs or re-organized an existing suite of services, whereas others have pursued acquisitions […]

[UPDATED] For-Profit or Nonprofit, Hospice Is Not a ‘Hustle’

The recent article by the New Yorker and ProPublica that branded “hospice” as a profiteering “hustle” was an outrageous misrepresentation of the provider community. Starting with the headline, the story uses “hospice” as a monolithic term that makes little distinction among individual providers — heralding its overgeneralized and oversimplified perspective. In many instances information that […]

Changing Hospice Conversation Key to Improving Caregiver Support

Support for family caregivers of seriously ill patients is both limited and fragmented, but changing the conversation about the end of life could fill some of the gaps. Nationwide, existing support and services are often scarce or insufficient to meet families’ needs, according to Ben Marcantonio, COO and interim president and CEO of the National […]

3 Ways Hospices Are Managing Rising Costs of Care Delivery

Technology, cost control, and family caregiver support have emerged as cost-saving strategies as headwinds mount for hospice providers. Efficiency has become a watchword in the hospice space. Providers, many of whom are unstaffed, have sought ways to do more with fewer resources and to relieve some of the burden on employees. A range of operators […]

Discrimination Fears Deter LGBTQ+ Patients From Advance Care Planning

Members of LGBTQ+ communities are foregoing advance care planning conversations due to fears of discrimination, recent research has found. A little more than 57% of roughly 200 sexual and gender minority adults indicated in a survey that a fear of disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity was a barricade to advance care planning, according […]